I'm sure this has been answered here before so I apologize. When it comes to salary, do families that you work for through agencies tend to pay more than families that hire you privately without an agency? I was found on gonannies.com and am a live in. I make a fair amount but just wondered for future jobs if I would be better off going through an agency. I have a degree in education and lots of experience and great references.
7 comments:
Nope, not from what I've seen anyway. I have worked with agencies as well as on my own. Some families that go through agencies are CHEAP. It really is just luck of the draw. You can try an agency but still look on your own. Agencies cost nothing for the nanny. I was working with a great agency, but found my current position on a website, and they pay twice as much as what the families through the agencies were offering.
My perception was always that the highest paying jobs -- the celeb jobs, the $75K/year jobs, etc -- tend to come through agencies. So, in that sense, yes you have the best chance of reaching that type of family if that is the type of job you seek via an agency. But for regular jobs with regular families and area-standard hours, duties, then no I do not think an agency will result in you earning more.
But as Nanny nj said, agencies are free for nannies, so why not try all approaches at once?
I second what NYC mom said.
You can register with an agency and tell them the salary range you are looking for. There is no guarantee that they will be able to match you, but you have nothing to lose, and at the same time, you can also be looking on your own.
I have always made better money going through an agency. My theory has been, if they are willing to pay some ridiculous agency fee then it's easier to ask what you are worth.
NYCMOM, 99.9% of the time celebs go through agencies. I live in Nashville (Shocker, right?) and a certain "celeb" had his wife use sittercity.com And wanted to pay $10-12hr for someone to be oncall 24/7. For real?!? Guess he isn't cashing Trump checks anymore.....
Thanks everyone!!
One benefit of GOOD agencies is that they help the parents define their job and then tell them the salary range for the job they want done. Agency jobs don't pay minimum wage or less (ahem...careDOTcom...ahem) because parents who use an agency are informed about their legal duties as employers.
Of course, you still have to be your own advocate even when working with an agency. Detail what YOU want in a job, and don't interview if a job is presented that isn't at least an 80% fit for your wants.
Good luck!
I've noticed an opposite approach... Families who pay a ridiculously high agency fee think they can pay a lower salary to nanny since they paid that high agency fee. Maybe these particular people were confused though on how the nanny/agency process worked. I didn't take the job. My first clue was when they tried cheating the agency!!
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